WINSTON-SALEM — The East Lincoln coaches are always talking to their players about achieving their maximum potential, whatever their limits might be.

After East Lincoln defeated Tarboro 24-20 for the 2A state title Saturday, senior quarterback Garrett Young had a question for his coach: “Coach, did we reach our ceiling?”

The answer had to be “yes” as the Mustangs went as far as they could go this season, capping a 16-0 season with the school’s first state championship.

Young passed for 196 yards and two touchdowns to earn the game’s most valuable player award and the East Lincoln defense wreaked havoc on Tarboro’s run game at times as the Mustangs dethroned the three-time defending state champion.

“I just enjoyed every bit of it,” Young said. “We’ve got a great bunch of guys, great coaches and they put all of us in the right spots. They’ve trusted us and we just went out there and got it.”

East Lincoln, making its second title appearance and first since a 24-7 loss to Reidsville in 2008, wrapped up its first undefeated season in school history after having set a school record for wins last week.

“I can’t praise our coaching staff enough for their preparation and the big heart that our kids have and that they play with,” head coach Mike Byus said.

Young connected with Chazz Surratt and Tyler Brock for touchdowns, Marquis Pharr rushed for a score and Cory Petersen booted a field goal for East Lincoln. The Mustangs won the turnover category 4-2 and stormed to an early lead but had to rally from behind in the fourth quarter.

Tarboro led 20-17 in the fourth until East Lincoln got its offense back in gear after what had been a rough second half. The Mustangs staged a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 13-yard pass from Young to Brock with 7:55 left.

“I knew once we had some momentum, we could move the ball down the field because we’ve been doing it consistently throughout the whole year,” said senior receiver Jesse Earnhardt, who had a 19-yard rush and two catches for 21 yards on the drive. “We had confidence in our offense.”

Petersen’s extra point split the uprights and East Lincoln took a 24-20 lead, leaving it up to the defense to finish off the game.

After Tarboro converted a pair of fourth-down conversions on a 15-play drive, East Lincoln finally had enough, stopping the Vikings for a five-yard loss on fourth and two from the Mustangs’ 20 with 1:25 remaining and Tarboro out of timeouts.

“What I did was ask my guys to do was come together as one and play the best second half that they could play, and I thought we did,” Tarboro coach Jeff Craddock said. “We just had too big of a hole to overcome.”

East Lincoln couldn’t have asked for a much better start, scoring on the game’s first drive on its way to a 17-6 halftime lead.

Pharr’s 3-yard touchdown run capped a 5-play, 47-yard drive to start the game. East Lincoln went ahead 10-0 two possessions later with a 16-play drive that ended in a 30-yard field goal by Petersen. After a 62-yard touchdown run by Quentin Roberson cut East Lincoln’s lead to 10-6, the Mustangs responded with a 14-play, 64-yard drive that concluded with Young’s three-yard touchdown pass to Chazz Surratt on fourth and goal to go up 17-6.

East Lincoln benefitted in the first half from shaky ball-handling by Tarboro, which fumbled five times and lost three of them while East Lincoln was turnover-free. For the game, Tarboro finished with six fumbles and four lost. East Lincoln had two turnovers, both of them interceptions.

Tarboro began making its move after halftime. A punt pinned East Lincoln on its own 1, and a bad snap two plays later went through the end zone for a safety, cutting the Mustangs’ lead to 17-8.

After Young was intercepted by Julian Lee later in the third quarter, Tarboro converted the turnover into points with a 21-yard touchdown run by Roberson, trimming East Lincoln’s lead to 17-14. It was less than a minute later when Young was intercepted again — this time by Aaron Moore — and the Vikings again cashed in to take their first lead of the game. Travonne Marshall did the honors with a 43-yard burst up the middle, but Tarboro — apparently with no kicker — failed on a two-point conversion for a third time and went ahead 20-17 with 3:07 left in the third.

East Lincoln went two more drives without a first down before getting back into a grove on the final scoring drive.

Tarboro (14-1) not only entered with a spotless record but had won three straight titles and was making its fifth straight championship appearance.

“They’ve been here five straight times and at halftime I told the kids they’re not going to go quietly and they didn’t,” Byus said. “They fought hard, which makes this even sweeter.”